Photography

This past year was a whirlwind of beautiful and delightful destinations. I feel like I’ve already spoken so much about what I’ve been grateful for in my self reflective blog posts from the past few months, that I felt like focusing instead on the places that I got to explore in the past 12 months. New places and old. With each place, I feel like I’ve built upon the foundation of myself. My independence and confidence heightened as more parts of the world entered my eyes and brain. My travel have given me a perspective that happened to just put everything in a place where there became no room for taking things for granted. My spontaneous trips have made even more pronounced the fact that taking chances can very well be worth the gamble. That no matter what, if you open your eyes and heart to what may seem strange and unknown, new places can seem like old friends in a very surprising way. The most amazing part is how different every place is from each other. Yet with time and energy spent enough, you can really find parts of yourself in each and every culture. What seems unlikely on the first day may become second nature by the third. But that adrenaline rush that comes with adventure . . . it’s priceless. I’ve fallen in love again with the city I grew up in. I visited Paris three times this past year, and no three visits have been the same at all. I learned that the world can be even more vibrant as the most abstract of art. That you can literally feel like you are walking in a painting. I traveled to keep from feeling sheltered. I traveled to find love. I traveled to find ambition. I traveled to see hope in new starts. I traveled to keep from getting bored. I traveled to hide from the cold. I traveled to escape work. I traveled for work. I traveled to reconnect with family. I traveled to take pictures. I traveled to head bang to bands I like. And bands that I dislike. I traveled for no darn reason at all. And I have come to find that any reason you have to travel, take it. And immerse yourself with full force. You’ll be surprised at all the parts of yourself you will become aware of that you never were aware of before. And that’s the most amazing part.

I always like to keep count of all the places I visit in a year. It makes me want to pinch myself. Here are some highlights from a few of my favorite travel destinations from the past year. You can look up these travels by entering the destination in my search bar at the top right hand corner of my blog.

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA

FLORENCE, ITALY

LA FORTUNA and PENINSULA PAPAGAYO, COSTA RICA

LONDON, ENGLAND

REIMS and PARIS, FRANCE

SASQUASH and VANCOUVER, CANADA

I hope your 2017 is full of love and motivation and confidence. Surround yourself with things that make you happy no matter what 🙂 xx

I never got around to sharing photos on this space from trip to Brazil a few months ago to visit my man. I spent a little under a week in the beautiful south of Brazil, where we grew up, exploring parts Dois Irmãos, Porto Allegre, Novo Hamburgo, Gramado, Canela, and one of my favorites . . . a six hour drive to Santa Catarina where I found some of the most beautiful beaches in the world (and the most peaceful, especially at the time of the year we in). Praia do Rosa was an exquisite blue dream from the top of the hilly sides that encapsulated it. I could imagine what a lively colorful rainbow this beach would be in high summer. The idea of drinking caipirinhas while getting burnet shoulders like a true Brazilian would excites me so much. And those caipirinhas! I’m already missing the taste of them and the summery relaxed feeling they washed over me. My boyfriend makes them soooo good. But I enjoyed the quiet and calmness of this beach and all the beaches in this area, in the springtime.

The center of Porto Allegre, the most liveliest of the small towns we visited. It felt like a real city. Parts of it reminded me so much of Los Angeles, it was sort of a surreal feeling. But it made me feel at home, and especially with my man by my side. Eating really good Italian food. Who would have thought some of the best pasta I had so far would be in Brazil?! We laughed as we drove down the city streets as we took count of locals walking with portable mugs of chimarrão tea (also known as yerba mate), the traditional tea drank but Southern Brazilians. Everyone drinks it down there! It’s extra caffeinated! Best to be enjoyed in an intimate setting out of a shared cup. hehe.

Then there was Gramado, a German-inspired mountain town. It gave me feelings of Christmas in a place where I thought only summer existed. European-esque chocolate shops, Alpine chalets (fondue anyone?), and other touristy places that seemed something out of a Hollywood movie that parodied Hollywood. There was a theme park for just about everything here. The only thing missing was the snow and holiday lights. It really opened my eyes to the diversity and multi-cultural history of Brazil. There is a strong sense of worldliness rooted here, and that is very modern.

Spending time in the smaller towns and experiencing a slower pace of day to day things eased me and shed my last few leftover layers of a New York Fashion Week and Brooklyn birthday celebrations. I didn’t do my hair, I slept in late, I hardly wore makeup, my dressing was simple,and I didn’t mind just spending each night watching a movie with my man and eating a home cooked meal in the home of his family. It all felt so simple and lovely, but most importantly it made me fully relax and tune out from work and social media. I felt perfectly in the present. And that is what I will remember the most from my first time in this amazing country. I hope to be back soon 🙂 I think Rio is calling my name.

And the day has come to wrap up my photo escapades from Malaysia. I became a little teary eyed throughout the editing process of this blog post. It was indeed one of the most magical trips that I’ve taken in quite a long time. A learning experience. It was an exploration of one’s roots. A reconnection with family that I feel I didn’t have a chance to experience fully in the past. A physical adjustment to weather and food choice. Learning to adapt is a strength that I find very useful to have. An eye opening vision to a place that is so different from home, but so familiar at the exact same time. That last part is something I can’t stress more, and it is why I encourage people to travel as much as they can when they are in their twenties. There’s so much to learn out there in the world. Endless stories to share, as long as we are ready and able to listen. And if we weren’t good listeners before, maybe it can help us become better. There are cultural traditions to borrow from and pass along; to compare and contrast with our own, possibly unlocking a door within ourselves to ideas we never before held or even though out. As individuals, we are each a very small yet extremely significant parts of the process of this thing called cultural diffusion. A sort of globalization of the mind on a personal level. Traveling is the best way to burst your bubble and see the world through the eyes of others. It’s a reminder that no matter where you are in your state in life, mentally and physically, the world goes round and round and round. And every single turn is just as important as the last.